Broadcast - Work And Non Work

I was genuinely upset last week when I heard that Trish Keenan had passed away from complications arising from a pneumonia/swine flu infection. She was forty two years old, which is a terrible age for anyone to go. I think all of the fans are feeling this one.

"Work And Non Work" is a collection of the band's first three singles. It's raw, but the idea for what the band would become is already fully realised. They were a unique and brilliant groop and Trish's vocals, sense of melody and lyrics were one of the things that made these records so wonderfully special.

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Spectrals - Extended Play

I'm flabbergasted and uncomprehending how this brilliant mini-album didn't set more people on fire towards the end of last year. I thought this was a dead cert for the multitude of best of year lists, but as far as I can tell, it's remained resolutely under the radar. I can't believe that this situation will perpetuate once this young man from Leeds releases his first album proper.

From the Rough Trade website:

Spectrals releases his debut EP through Moshi Moshi records entitled 'A Spectrals Extended Play'. The EP is a collection of 7 new and previously unreleased songs. Spectrals is a young man named Louis from Leeds with a fondness for Phil Spector and doo-wop. All of this is siphoned through his unique approach to indie fuzz-pop. The results are ambitious, warm, nostalgic and dreamy.

This is such a beautiful record, collected from the extremely limited vinyl 7" singles which Louis Jones has released to date. It might just be me, but it seems that by reaching into the past, he's managed to come up with something startlingly fresh and new. It feels like there's nobody else doing this stuff right now. And he does it so well. My wife and kids love this record, so he's definitely on to something.

I'm hanging out for a full album proper, which will hopefully appear this year. Although it should be noted that my record of predicting success is fucking abysmal but c'mon; this is great. And the guy is about 18 or something. It's just not fair.

This is still available from Rough Trade, as are the original singles, so I'm only keeping this up on here for a few days. Don't sleep.

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Seefeel - Succour

Although some won't be swayed that the first Seefeel album, "Quique" is their masterpiece, I'm definitely holding out for this one. "Succour" was the second album, released in 1995. It features the full woozy, loopy Seefeel sound, but it's so beautifully realised and perfectly formed. A design classic, if you will.

Obviously heavily influenced by My Bloody Valentine (though I'm pretty sure the band always denied this and claimed that they were lumped together by a music press who couldn't see the differences), this is a much sweeter affair. Although, having said that, there is a delicious darkness at work here too. Neither ambient nor song-based, this is a wonderful concoction of traditional rock instrumentation which has been grinded through the sampling process in such a way that the resulting noises are somehow indefinable and difficult to get a handle on.

Like a moth fluttering around your head as you drift off to sleep. Pretty, but also horrible and disturbing. Caught in an interzone between light and dark, dream and reality, comfort and discomfort. This is such a brilliant album.

I've got the remastered issue of "Quique" lined up if anyone's interested.

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Public Image Limited - Live In Tokyo

Public Image were never a band for doing things by halves, with their early albums fantastically abrasive and challenging, their later albums more mainstream, pop-driven and hooky. Ergo; less interesting. This live album might be the only time they were really mediocre. The early classics are there ("Religion", "Flowers Of Romance", "Death Disco") but while the recording is excellent, the absence of Jah Wobble is really evident in the thin, trebly sound. Given Lydon's voice, this is not a good thing, as it leads to a uniformity of sound, with bass drums which tap rather than pound. "Death Disco" in particular suffers from the thin sound - where the recorded version is tar-thick and druggily paranoid, the version here has a cod-funk bass and generates no atmosphere or effect other than Lydon's effective caterwauling.

There is an energy to the performance, as you'd expect from Lydon, but also from Martin Atkins on drums. However "Live In Tokyo" is merely professional, which is the last thing you really want from Pil.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Navigation: The OMD B-Sides

So here's the B-Sides. Once again, A mixed bag, but this time stretching out into the wilderness years. The intriguing thing about this one though, is that in common with all right thinking bands, they were still using the flipside of poptastic singles to stretch out a little bit. I'm afraid that the law of diminishing returns is still applicable here, however. Until the last track "The Angels Keep Turning The Wheels Of The Universe", which as far as I can remember came as a free single with "Junk Culture"? It's brilliant.

Otherwise, there's the wonky but charming cover of "Waiting For The Man", the alternative take of "Almost", The wonderful "4-Neu" and the title track "Navigation" which could have appeared on "Architecture And Morality".

Finally, as Frenchbloke pointed out to me yesterday, is there an OMD album on which "The Romance Of The Telescope" does not appear? Certainly not this one. And let's be grateful for that, at least.

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Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Peel Sessions 1979 - 1983

OK, so here's the deal. If you've got a good song, or want to try something experimental, then the stripped down approach of a hurried BBC session will sound great. If the song is shit in the first place and you have recorded full studio versions which are production heavy, then the stripped down approach will simply expose the weaknesses of said song.

Never has this rule been truer than on this patchy Peel Sessions album from OMD.

Let's recap. The first album was brilliant, the second album was utterly horrible (bar two songs), third and fourth albums; transcendental works of genius. Shit forever after.

Ergo, Peel session one (first album) = brilliant.
Peel sessions two/three (either side of the second album) = mostly shit.
Peel session four (fourth album) = brilliant.

What have we learned? What a pity they were too busy being pop stars for a third album era session. Also, why is the Factory Records version of "Electricity" tagged on at the end?

Highlights? Red Frame/White Light, Genetic Engineering, Messages, Julia's Song, Enola Gay. In That Order.

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Howard Devoto - Jerky Versions Of The Dream

Howard Devoto's only solo album to date, Jerky Versions Of The Dream, remains a fascinatingly flawed capture of 'the Orson Welles of punk'. It appeared in July 1983 when the world had turned further away from his legend in the handful of years following the final, misunderstood, Magazine release, Magic, Murder and the Weather.

This album is firmly rooted in its era. Amid the synth brass and shocking machines, however, the quality of his writing and wit shine through. “Topless” could have been a huge hit in the hands of a more conventional singer. “Some Will Pay” is the album’s morose centrepiece, but, by the time you get to “Way Out Of Shape”, you’re completely diverted by its sound; clattering, trebly funk. You are left with an overriding feeling of Devoto (supported by Barry Adamson and Dave Formula) wandering around in something of a daze. What saves the day, here, however, are the newly-added tracks; the John Peel session from August 83 ably demonstrates how great this material could be in its paired-down form.

You really wish that Jerky Versions Of The Dream had been made more sparsely in the late 70s. NME said at the time “It burns at both ends and gets bitty and boring in the centre. It's what I call semi-music.” And that assessment still rings true. Devoto shrieks on the brief punk rush of the intro to “Taking Over Heaven,” “Listen, I’ve just remembered something!” It’s as if he recalls, amid all the stultification, what inspired him in the first place.

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